A New Mexico group seeking financial compensation for those suffering negative health effects from the 1945 Trinity atomic bomb tests has two more years to make its case.
The federal Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), now extended two years, provides money to people harmed, either from uranium mining or the atomic tests.
The government currently only recognizes "downwinders" who live in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
Tina Cordova, co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, said if expanded by Congress, it could benefit those who suffer from cancer-related illnesses traced to the radioactive fallout.
"Plutonium that was used in the bomb, overused in the bomb at Trinity -- they didn't know how much was going to be necessary -- has a half-life 24,000 years or 7,000 generations," Cordova pointed out.
The two-year extension of RECA by President Joe Biden last month will allow the consortium more time to seek eligibility for New Mexicans whose lives were affected. Tomorrow, the Downwinders Consortium holds its 13th annual candlelight vigil, and a town hall where some will share their stories.
In 1945, the Department of Energy called the Trinity nuclear test site "remote," but thousands of people lived within 50 miles and were exposed to the first-ever nuclear blast.
Cordova noted it has also been revealed government agencies only conducted tests when the wind was blowing east, to avoid contaminating Las Vegas or Los Angeles. She feels in some ways, New Mexico was targeted, and it was not just a one-time event.
"We've been so overexposed to radiation because of all of this, and New Mexico truly is a sacrifice zone," Cordova asserted. "We have the cradle-to-grave process taking place here. They open up the earth and take out the uranium. We have over 1,000 abandoned uranium mines and mill sites in Navajo, Laguna and Acoma Pueblo."
The Environmental Protection Agency is currently working with federal, state and tribal partners to address abandoned uranium mines and identify the parties responsible for cleanup, including on the Navajo Nation and New Mexico's Grants Mining District.
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Environmental advocates in Iowa want state lawmakers to tighten regulations on large livestock feeding facilities, which they say will help protect the state's air and water.
They say right now, Iowa is headed in the wrong direction.
The group Iowa Food and Water Watch has a list of priorities for the 2025 Legislature - from opposing legislation that could limit pesticide companies' liability, to protecting ground and surface water from the 4,000 large animal feeding operations in the state.
Food and Water Watch Iowa Organizer Jennifer Breon said cleaning up Iowa's drinking water is at the top of the list - by requiring those operations to adhere to the U.S. Clean Water Act.
"Only 4% of Iowa's CAFOs or factory farms have Clean Water Act permits," said Breon, "and Iowa has more factory farms than any other state."
Livestock industry operators say they are always balancing efforts to be more environmental friendly with the need to keep up with consumer demand for meat products.
Beyond polluting the air, ground, and surface water near CAFOs, Breon said the 109 billion gallons of manure produced by Iowa's factory farms every year is threatening the state's recreational opportunities.
"It's impossible to swim in the lake in Iowa in the summertime frequently, because of E. coli and algae blooms," said Breon. "Our state is forced to issue warnings about beach closures, pretty much all summer long."
An analysis by Food and Water Watch found that Iowa's factory farms have been fined less than $750,000, despite multiple citations for water pollution over a decade.
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Research shows toxic additives have been overlooked in the U.S. food supply, though the federal Food and Drug Administration is charged with regulating them.
Legislation in Montana could start new state-level rules. Senate Bill 155 would create a state panel on food safety and give it the authority to make and enforce rules limiting the availability of foods that contain certain toxic additives, like food coloring.
Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, sponsored the bill and said it will help the state understand the cumulative health effects of consuming toxins.
"First, it's a study process," Emrich explained. "We have to study the issue, see how extensive it is and see if there's regulations that need to be instituted to deal with the issue."
A 2024 study showed toxic chemicals have entered Americans' food supply by being put into a category called "generally recognized as safe." It was meant for common ingredients, like oil and baking soda, which the FDA exempts from a thorough approval process.
The Environmental Working Group in 2022 found 98.7% of the new chemicals introduced to the food supply since 2000 were not FDA approved, amounting to more than 750 chemicals. Emrich pointed out the state could more closely regulate what is being sold inside its boundaries.
"The Food and Drug Administration, they recognize the toxic cumulative effect of these additives, but they don't regulate it," Emrich noted.
He added regulation could improve Montanans' health and save the state "billions of dollars in health care." The bill was referred last week to the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare and Safety.
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Just like overindulging in salt is bad for your health, so too is the excessive use of road salt on the environment.
Since 2020, PennDOT reported applying nearly 600,000 tons of salt to icy roads.
Harry Campbell, Pennsylvania director of science policy and advocacy for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said research by the U.S. Geological Survey found streams throughout the nation are getting saltier, by almost 40%. Campbell stressed the salty runoff is harming freshwater aquatic creatures and pointed out a single teaspoon of rock salt can pollute five gallons of fresh water.
"Those freshwater critters and creatures, like the brook trout or the Eastern Hellbender, are actually found having toxic effects from that salt that is now in the waters," Campbell explained.
Campbell highlighted Winter Salt Week, which starts Jan. 27, as a national effort to educate people about the environmental effects of using road salt and to promote safer alternatives. He called it a chance for Pennsylvanians to learn better techniques for deicing roads, bridges, sidewalks and parking lots.
Campbell noted researchers are exploring eco-friendly options like beet root juice but they remain costly. He emphasized proper salt use -- applying the right amount, at the right time, in the right place -- could help minimize the effects on plants and animals. And he suggested homeowners opt for less harmful products, like those made with magnesium chloride.
"Magnesium chloride is less harmful for pets, has a less chance of actually affecting vegetation and ultimately polluting rivers and streams," Campbell observed. "But an even better choice is a product that is made of calcium magnesium acetate."
The pet-safe products are not toxic like rock salt, which can also harm roadside vegetation. Salt pollution in waterways corrodes infrastructure, contaminates drinking water and disrupts the natural balance of heavy metals and nutrients in waterways.
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